As we depend upon our masters, for what we eat and drink and wear, and for all our comfortable things in this world, we cannot be happy, unless we please them.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Happiness is a hard master, particularly other people's happiness.
We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.
To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.'
We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves.
Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose.
If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.
If we are to be happy, we must first react against our tendency to follow the line of least resistance, a tendency that causes us either to remain as we are, or to look primarily to activities external to ourselves for what will provide new impetus to our lives.
Happiness is dependent on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to do battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature.
Happiness is boundlessly weird. Other people's choices often seem to delight them, where I would run screaming.
Happiness depends upon ourselves.